Southern California -- this just in

Bell police union says baseball game memo is ‘much ado about nothing’

March 1, 2011 | 12:07
pm

The Bell Police Officers Assn. on Tuesday issued strong denials of any knowledge or participation in a "baseball game" in which officers may have competed to issue tickets, impound cars and arrest motorists.

Rules of the game were outlined in a memo obtained by The Times and discovered in police files. The Los Angeles County district attorney's office acknowledged that it also has a copy of the memo and is investigating. It is unclear who wrote the memo or whether department officials had condoned it.

But the police association said in a statement Tuesday that the memo was "a parody" of former Bell administrator Robert Rizzo's "profoundly nonsensical 'towing policy.'" The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating whether the city violated civil rights through improper towing of cars and code-enforcement activities.

"In short, this memo is much ado about nothing since the memo was never meant as a standardized policy but rather a parody," according to the statement, which adds that the police association welcomes any investigation into the memo. "We are confident as they uncover the truth about Robert Rizzo's 'towing policy,' they will find that Bell police officers have consistently opposed the now defunct policy often at the risk of their own jobs."